Reeven Arcziel 12 CPU heatsink
by
Dark Mantis
One more component from the new Taiwanese company that I have been communicating with recently is the Reeven Arcziel 12 cooler which is actually known as the RC-1203 by model number. This is a processor heatsink and fan combination that instead of following the mainstream of manufacturers and producing a tower based model they have gone for a lower horizontal shaped one. Apart from that it is similar to many others in that it has a fan blowing onto a matrix of aluminium vanes to help remove the heat from the CPU below.
This cooler covers most of the current processor sockets that are in current use nowadays. This is really handy as it means that you can re-use the component when you upgrade and helps to keep costs down which is something we all appreciate. It will fit both AMD and Intel platforms so even a change of manufacturer is catered for. To list most of the usual ones all the following are compatible Intel's 755, 1155, 1156, 1366 even the new 2011 is covered alongside AMD's socket FM1, AM3(+), AM2(+).
The Arcziel 12 comes complete with mounting hardware to suit the pre listed sockets even a decent quality thermal paste. There is a backplate which comes in the form of a moveable cross. It has several holes drilled and marked alphabetically A, B, C and D. The matching hole is used on each arm and so fitting is straightforward. The motherboard is then flipped over so it is the correct way up and construction of the applicable pieces continues. Depending on the socket being used things vary a little from here but it is all laid out nice and clearly in the included Installation Guide which is written in six languages so most customers should be catered for.
Once installed the fan can be attached although it is quite possible to use the cooler without it as a passive unit as long as a lower end CPU is being used. One of the big benefits of this design is that the fan blows downwards through the vanes and in so doing actively cools the surrounding components also. This is something that tower coolers miss out on. The processors come with a top down cooler as standard and so when this is replaced often the local motherboard components end up running a lot hotter even though the CPU is in a cooler state.
It uses a 12cm fan, a PWM type and one of Reeven's own design, to push the air through the stack of fins.These are not just flat sheets of metal though they are sculptured to increase the efficiency of heat removal by the passing airflow. From the base block which is solid copper with a nickel plating there are six heatpipes protruding that run both ways and terminate inside the aluminium fins. All these heatpipes are 6mm diameter and of good construction. Although quite a common method this is a great way to efficiently move the heat. It works by evaporating a liquid inside the tube and then condensing it at the other end at the same time losing heat.
Overall for such a compact unit this cooler works very well and isn't noisy about it either. The fan will reach almost 2000rpm at top speed and shift an incredible 100+ cfm of air but only has a top noise level of 35dBA which isnt too much at all. As it is PWM controlled the fan should be running at a much slower speed most of the time anyway so I would expect sound levels to be very reasonable. In fact in use I have hardly heard the fan on the CPU cooler at all. The fan cable is nicely braided and terminates in a four pin plug that will match up to the motherboard CPU fan header or of course if constant full power was considered advantageous it could be connected directly to the power supply via an extension cable instead.
One thing I would like to note is that this cooler doesn't seem to interfere with the memory modules like a lot of other large heatsinks like the Noctua NH-D14 etc I tried a couple of different sticks with reasonably large heatsinks with no problem at all. There are a couple of different options when it comes to orientation of the cooler and so you can pick which ever suits best.
Temperatures at idle speed with the case fans set to about half speed
For those of you who like to read the numbers here are the details. The heatsink without the fan weighs in at 557g or 1.23lbs. Using the included fan the airflow varies from 27 - 101cfm at noise levels of 4.3 to 35.5dBA. The dimensions without the fan are 126 x 140 x 131mm (HxWxD) add another 120 x 120 x 25mm for the fan.
Temperatures after some time of running Prime95 with the case fans set to about half speed
I really like this cooler and it is indeed still sat in my backup rig doing it's thing very nicely and quietly. The only thing I could find as a downside was that the heatpipes are not soldered to the vanes. This is perhaps a bit nitpicking as many coolers are the same but it would have been nice to see. It well deserves the 9/10 awarded.
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Originally Posted by Dark Mantis
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